Improvement in heaters for fire-places



L. A. SEITZ.

HEATERS FOR FIRE-PLACES.

Pitented March a. 1877.

N-PEIERS. FHOTO-LITHOGRAFHEH, WASHINGTON, 0 C4 NTTED STATES PATENT QTIOE IMPRQVEMENT IN HEATERS FOR FIRE-PLACES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. [88, 194, dated March6, 1877; application filed January 26, 1877.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, LEONARD A. SEITZ, of WestBellevue, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Fire-Fronts; and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionthereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming a partof this specification, in which- I Figure l is a front elevation of myimproved open-grate front.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the line at w of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3shows the operation of the lifter for removing the front. 1

My invention consists of an adjustable draftregulator and air-heatingapparatus for open fire-places,and has for its object the regulation ofthe draft of open fires to secure the thorough and economicalconsumption of the fuel, and the projection of heated air out into theroom.

Open fire-places are preferable to stoves, because they give moreperfect ventilation to a room, allowing the escape of the cold and foulair up. the chimney more completely and perfectly, by reason of thelarge opening communicating with the room, than the small draftopeningsof a stove.

The objection to the use of open fires is that they do not heat the roomeffectually, a large proportion of the heatpassing up the chimney, andalso that they have a very imperfect draft, which prevents the thoroughand perfect consumption of the coal, and in a great degree nullifies theeffect of that which is consumed by choking up the grate. Theseobjectionable features can only be overcome by creating a thoroughdraft, and by causing warm air from the fire to pass out into the room.

This object is attained by my invention, which I will now proceed todescribe, so that others may manufacture and use the same.

A is the air-chamber, constructed of any suitable material, such asiron, 860. This chamber is. fastened onto the fire-front by means of ahook, a which is placed thereon engaging one of a number of eyes ornotches,

preferable. B B are air-pipes, made of any' suitable material, whichconnect with, and extend down from, the air-chamber on each side of thefire to near the bottom of the fire-front, where they are provided withopenings 11, through which the cold air enters and passes up into theair-chamber A.

Hinged to the lower side of the air-chamber A is the adjustable blowerO, which consists of an apron or sheet, made of sheet-iron, copper,brass, or other suitable material, so arranged-that it may be let downfrom a horizontal position to a vertical one before the fire, and thusact as a blower. c is a catch, which is hinged to the air-chamber A, andis provided on its inner edge with a number of hooks or serrations,which engage with the lower edge of the blower G, and thus hold it inany desired position.

The fire being started in the grate D the combined air heater and bloweris hung onto the front by means of the hook and notches a a The blower Ois then lowered to a vertical position or nearly so, and therebyprevents the air from entering the fire-place above the flames, andcauses it to enter through the bars of the grate D, thus making athorough draft. The flames, passing up back of and against the side ofthe air-chamber A, rapidly heat the air in the chamber A, and the coldair passing up through the pipes B forces the hot air out of the chamberA through the opening or escape pipe a into the room. The cold air,which enters the pipes B and passes into the chamber A, is heated andpasses into the room, as before described. Thus currents of cold air arecontinually passing into the chamber through the openings 1) in thepipes B, and a current of warm air is passing out into the room throughthe opening a. I If the fire burns too rapidly the draft may be lessenedby raising the blower G to the requisite height to allow some air topass into the fireplace above the flames. The blower C also acts as ashade from the flickering light of the fire, which is very injurious tothe eyes.

The pipes B may be constructed back of the'fire-front, and so arrangedas to connect with the air-chamber A, and also to project through thefire-front at its base to allow of the ingress of the cold air.

When the room gets too Warm the combined air heater and blower may belifted off of the firefront by the use of the lifter E, which may be ofany convenient form, and one end of which engages in the holes or eyes.0 in the end' of catch 0, which is hinged to the airchamber A.

If desired, the air-heating chamber may be made with, and form part of,the fire-front, instead of being separate therefrom. as'shown.

It may also be placed back of the front plate, but still remain in frontof the fireplace. Either of these alternate constructions are apparentupon an examination of my invention and within its scope. The re movableconstruction is applicable to fireplaces now in use, without requiringthat they should be changed, other than to provide a means of support.The blower may be made to slide up into a suitable recess between thefront plate and'the airchamber, and a hook and ratchet substituted forthe serrated hook to support it, in which case the hook'would be on theblower, and the ratchet on the back part of the air-heating chamber, sothat when the blower is pushed up into the recess it may be hungon theratchet by the hook at any desired height, but is prevented fromaccidental V escape from the recess by making the last tooth of the racklarge enough to require careful manipulation to insert and withdraw thehook.

I do not claim an air-chamber placed partially within the chimney-walland partially in front of and above the fire-place; but

Having thus described my invention, what i I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent is- 1 In combination with an open fire-place,

and air-heating chamber, provided with draft and discharge pipes, saidchamber located and arranged wholly in advance of the firefront,substantially as and for the purpose specified. l

2. Themovably-adjustable hinged blower, in combination with a supportingdevice for supporting it in any desired position, as and for thepurposes described.

3. The adjustable air-heating tire-front, provided with an air-chamber,suitable draft and discharge pipes, and a hinged blower, in combinationwith a hook or other suitable sup-- porting device, substantially as andfor the purposes described.

In testimony whereof I, the said LEONARD A. SEI'rz, have hereunto set myhand.

LEONARD A. SEITZ.

Witnesses JAMES K. BAKEWELL, JAMES I. KAY.

